From the Beginning
by youllbreatheagain
Summary: Damon told Elena to forget. But what if one little word changed... DISCLAIMER: fan based story.


"I know Bonnie; you're right, you and my mom both are. I just can't bring myself to tell him." Laying on the road, the man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes stared at the girl walking towards him. She was speaking into the phone, voice quiet and frustrated. "At least not tonight," she said, sighing. "I'll call you later." Sadly, she hung up the phone and took a breath.

Standing now in front of the girl, excited to see her and angry all at the same time, he spoke her name in a sultry quiet voice, startling her. "Katherine."

The girl looked up, nervous and confused. She stared uncomfortably at the man only a few paces away from her, and held her phone closer, ready to dial if she needed to. "Uhm... No I-" she turned to see if anyone was near her. Of course there wasn't. She left all of her friends deep inside the trees, no one would be coming for her. "I'm Elena." She said, looking back at him, concern drawing her brow in.

The man was confused. This girl was Katherine. She had to be. She looked exactly like her, had the same voice even... But there was something different about her. Subtly, he sniffed the air. Ah. This was not Katherine. "Oh, you..." lost for words, unsure of what he was seeing, he hesitated. "You just look..." she stared back at him, growing more nervous as he spoke – or... didn't speak. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to compose himself into a more casual stance, one that seemed less like he was ready to rip out her throat only seconds before. "You just really remind me of someone." He took a couple steps towards he as he spoke, trying to find any differences between this girl and the one who he'd thought she was. There were none. He pursed his lips. "I'm Damon."

Uncrossing her arms, Elena tried to relax. Her voice held strong when she spoke, which she was glad for. "Not to be rude, Damon, but, it's kind of creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere."

"You're one to talk. You're out here all by yourself." He half grinned, lips turning up slightly on one side as he saw the flaw in her statement. If he wanted to figure out who this girl was, he was going to have to play nice, not scare her off. He internally slapped himself on the back. He was doing a _great_ job of that so far...

Shrugging and lifting her arms to the side, she said "It's Mystic Falls, nothing bad ever happens here." Her arms fell, and her position took on a "duh" form.

Amused as much as he was confused at the situation he was in, he tried to smile. Internally kicking himself, despairing yet again at how cool he was playing this off.

Needing to stall until her parents arrived, she started speaking to him again. Breaking the silence in which anything could happen. "I got into a fight with my boyfriend." Maybe the explanation would catch his attention.

Catching on, Damon went along with her little ice breaker. "About what?" He asked, trying to sound interested. If he could get this girl talking, maybe he could figure out her relation to Katherine... "May I ask?" He threw in, flaunting his bad boy disposition.

It worked, she seemed to trust that he wouldn't kill her...

"Life," she began. "Future. He's got it all mapped out." She nodded, looking to the side.

Understanding, he spoke up. "You don't want it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know what I want."

"Well that's not true." She may be only a teenager by the look of it, and he may be diving head first towards two hundred years old, but in the end everyone wanted the same thing. "You want what everybody wants."

Smiling for the first time since she'd seen him, she began to perk up. "What, mysterious stranger who seems to have all the answers?"

He gave an unconvincing laugh and looked away. Looking back at her, he smirked, amused. "Well let's just say I've been around a long time." His voice grew husky, and his "dangerous" persona kicked up a notch. "I've learned a few things." He began to feel more like himself, relaxing, feeling less unnerved by the girl as they spoke. One thing was for sure, this Elena was nothing like Katherine.

"So, Damon," she smiled, pursing her lips much the same as the way he had. "Tell me, what is that I want?" She smiled, testing him. Tilting her head to the side in order to make him want to impress her.

Nodding, preparing himself for a great speech, he took a step forward. Staring her straight in the eye, he began. "You want a love that consumes you. He kept walking forward. "You want passion." He stopped there, in front of her, barely a foot of distance left between them. "An adventure. And maybe a little danger." He smirked when he saw that his words had effect of her. She stared at him, mind a blur as he spoke.

Not letting herself slip into this dream, she perked back up, "So what do _you_ want?" She asked him.

He was surprised. Surely he wanted the same thing. Everyone did. But even as he tried to speak, words failed him.

A car honked from behind her. She turned around and spoke with forced relief in her voice. "That's my parents."

When she looked back to him, their eyes locked, and his pupils grew wide as he said this last thing to her. "I want you to get everything you're looking for," her pupils grew wide as well as she was compelled to listen to him. "But for now I want you to not tell anyone that this happened. Can't have people knowing I'm in town yet." He smirked as he let her mind flow freely again. She smiled up to him, star struck by the handsome man she'd just met. He looked down towards her lips, for a brief second wondering... though the thought didn't last him long as the car grew closer and her shook himself out of it. "Good night, Elena." He disappeared into the night, and she blinked, real consciousness coming back to her.

Looking around, she realized the faint feeling of disappointment that she now held burden at his absence. Turning, she got into her parents car.


End file.
